SEOUL — The eighth-strongest ever reported earthquake to hit the Korean peninsula occurred at 8:56 p.m. Saturday, according to local news reports.

Measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, the three- to five-second quake was centered about 125 miles south of Seoul in Kangwon Province, according to the Korea Times.

No serious damages or injuries were reported, according to news reports, even though the quake could be felt across the country.

The Korea Times reported experts as saying the quake brings into question South Korea’s ability to react to these types of disasters. They predicted a quake measuring five or greater on the Richter scale could hit Korea in coming years.

“A relatively strong quake is usually reported in Korea two years after Japan or China is hit by powerful tremors,” Chi Heon-cheol, chief of the Earthquake Research Center affiliated with the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, stated in a Korea Times report.

A magnitude seven quake rocked Fukuoka, Japan, in March 2005, he said in the report.